Business VoIP Featured Article

BARC Connects Ready to Launch Residential and Business VoIP

Broadband services and cloud technology is allowing companies in different segments to enter the telecommunications sector to earn additional revenue. For BARC Connects, which is a broadband subsidiary of Virginia-based BARC Electric Cooperative, the company was established to start providing broadband services in rural communities. After deploying the network, BARC is now ready to start delivering services, and it has chosen the Alianza Cloud Voice Platform to provide the residential and business VoIP solutions.

According to Alianza, more electric cooperatives are branching out by providing modern fiber-based broadband services for their customers. For BARC Connects, it was extending the service its parent company provides to under-served rural counties still waiting for broadband.

The telephony service was requested by residents who wanted a communications solution they could count on: a problem in these remote areas. The system wide fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project is going to start providing services in the summer of 2017, which will include Internet and TV services, along with the residential and business VoIP.

"Phone services are an integral part of our broadband service offering, and in our rural area, remain an impactful service to provide our members. Partnering with Alianza to deliver a full suite of voice services puts us in the best position to maximize our customers’ experience, as well as our business case for fiber broadband," commented Mike Keyser, CEO of BARC Electric Cooperative.

The Alianza solution was chosen because the platform simplifies the deployment of phone services, while at the same time being economical and easy to manage. The Cloud Voice Platform is a web-scale voice solution purpose-built for broadband providers so they won't have to make additional investments in telecommunications hardware. Using its own broadband network, BARC Connects will be able to provide VoIP-based phone services.

"With this member-backed investment in fiber, BARC Connects is providing a great service to its community. Our solution will help them achieve financial goals and deliver excellent service to their customers," said Justin Cooper, Alianza’s Vice President of Business.

BARC is going to be able to cloud source next-generation VoIP infrastructure from Alianza, and reduce the time it will take it to provide telephony services. Alianza says its solution gives service providers the ability to deliver and monetize voice services by bringing together virtualized web-scale technology and elastic SaaS business models. This will allow BARC to deliver and support a VoIP and UC service portfolio.